The Christian Future and the Fate of Earth

Written by Thomas Berry Edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim

Thomas Berry, a prophetic voice on the environmental crisis for many years, calls on Christians to respond to this global crisis with utmost urgency and with a unified sense of the sacred community of life. These essays represent the most comprehensive reflections of Thomas Berry on the role of Christianity in our times. Berry challenges Christians to respond to the growing environmental crisis. He asks boldly why Christians have not been more consistently concerned about the destruction of ecosystems, the loss of species, and the fate of future generations. In powerful and poetic language he presents a compelling vision of the sacredness of the universe and the interrelatedness of the Earth community. Drawing on Thomas Aquinas and Teilhard de Chardin he brings the Christian tradition into a cosmology of care for the whole of creation. There is no other Christian thinker who, over so many years, has raised such a prophetic voice regarding Earth’s destruction and the urgent need for human response. These essays are Berry’s signature statement on the interconnectedness of both Earth’s future and the Christian future. Berry calls for both Christian theology and liturgy to open up for reflection on this issue. He makes important correlations between some of his key ecological insights and Christian doctrine, such as the Trinity, the Incarnation, and Christology. He observes that some ecological movements are emerging within Christian communities, especially among religious women. The epilogue is his signature statement on the comprehensive new role of the human in responding to the environmental challenge.